Killzone 3 Review

This is a first-person experience.

Killzone 3 is beautiful and easily amongst the best looking games on PS3. But what makes its gorgeous environments so important to its design is that it makes the combat more immersive. Enemies are animated so that they realistically fall off railings or cliffs, your own soldiers die in agony as they're cut down by enemy fire, and the environments Sev is fighting through are haunting because they look so plausible. These are not the fantastic alien worlds of a game like Halo; these are dwellings where humans once lived and where humans are now dying in vicious, hate-filled combat. It's strange that crumbling concrete and twisted pieces of rebar can be so awe inducing, but they resonate because they're grounded in scenes we've all seen before in our own world, helping make this war somehow more easily identified with.

Killzone 3's single player is good despite the story, but the reason it's a product worth holding onto is for the multiplayer. The three modes are all fun to play, offering both standard Team Deathmatch and more objective-driven options (including the new Operations Mode, where the highest rated players get to see themselves in cut scenes between objectives). And the revamped leveling system – where leveling means getting points you can use to buy what you want, rather than using a class to unlock abilities for just that class – is a welcome change. Occasional moments of slow-down are likely to occur in larger matches, but make no mistake: this is one of the better multiplayer games available to PS3 owners, and those who enjoyed Killzone 2 online have a lot to look forward to.

F**king jet packs, son!

Outside of the single player and multiplayer, there's an option to tackle the campaign via local co-op play (where the hell is the online, Sony?), an option to play multiplayer with bots, an option to play with Playstation Move controls, and an option to use a 3D TV if you're wealthy enough to be a part of the future. The Move controls are functional but in no way superior or better than an analog controller, while 3D is...well…3D. Yay?

The Verdict

Along with its fun multiplayer, Killzone 3 is so enjoyable because it&#Array;s not just a shooter, it&#Array;s an experience. Guerilla has crafted scene after gorgeous scene that made me feel like you&#Array;re a part of a brutal, human war that is somehow fantastic in setting but also eerily reminiscent of the wars we see on TV. Combine this with the superb pacing and you have a campaign that&#Array;s totally fun despite its boring characters and uninspired story. This may not be the best game on the PS3, but it&#Array;s a fantastic option for shooter fans, and the type of title that non-PS3 owners are sure to envy.